A Reading Life (53) What I read in April, what I'm #reading in May

I had a very successful reading month in April. I read/finished six five books (I thought it was six, but I was including Good Omens which I'm just about finished listening to on audio. Oops). I completed a four month reading challenge. I would also call it a successful participation in my Spring into Horror Readathon at Seasons of Reading. It has been a long time since I've read that many books in a month's time. Color me proud!

What I read:
Necroscope, Brian Lumley  Review
The Scapegoat, Daphne Du Maurier  Review
The King of Bones and Ashes, J.D. Horn  Review
The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius  Review
The Giver, Lois Lowry  Review 

I completed the four month challenge, Book Challenge by Erin 10.0. The next one is July through October (11.0) and I think I'll participate again. Looking forward to the new categories being announced on June 1st. Here's my completed list:

• 5 points: Freebie – Read a book that is at least 200 pages - Orphan Train by Christina Baker Cline
• 10 points: Read a book that was made into a movie - The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier
• 10 points: Read a book that is set in Europe - The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
• 15 points: Read a book that was a Newberry Award winner (medal winner or honor book): The Giver by Lois Lowry (Winner, 1994)
• 20 points: Read a book that is a friend or family member’s favourite...or the favourite book by another participant in this challenge - Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith (one of my mom’s favorites)
• 20 points: Read a book originally published over 100 years ago - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• 25 points: Read a book with six words (and only six words) in the title - The King of Bones and Ashes by J.D. Horn
• 30 points: Read a book with a compass or cardinal direction in the title - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
• 30 points: Read a book that was originally published in a different language than your own - The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, Robert Graves (Translation)
• 35 points: Read a book that begins with the letter “N” - Necroscope by Brian Lumley

Currently Reading

The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury (my Classics Spin book)
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, Michael Wood
NOS4A2, Joe Hill
Good Omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (audio-almost finished)

My continued May reading plans

Florence & Giles, John Harding
Dear Jane, Allie Cresswell (for review)

New audio book title - to be determined

On a final note, and speaking of the Classics Club, I decided to revise my list and restart my goal date. The reason? In my current living situation, many of my books are difficult to access so there were many books on the list I could not get my hands on. I decided to replace those titles mostly with classic writing books (some of them which I consider classics) and a couple of novels. One notable title, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson which I recently acquired on Kindle. Here's my new list (also found in the Classics Club tab in the menu):

Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale Read in March 2017
Negotiating with the Dead

Jane Austen 

Emma
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey Read in March 2019

Elizabeth Berg
Escaping into the open

Ray Bradbury
Something Wicked This Way Comes Read October 2018
The Martian Chronicles

Zen and the Art of Writing

Dorothea Brande
Becoming a Writer

Anne Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 

Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre
Villette

Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights

Julia Cameron

The Vein of Gold

Truman Capote

In Cold Blood

Colette
Cheri (with The Last of Cheri)

Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White

Daniel Defoe

Roxana

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield
Great Expectations
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Little Dorritt
A Tale of Two Cities 

Annie Dillard

The Writing Life

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Brothers Karamazov

Daphne du Maurier

My Cousin Rachel Read in April 2017

George Eliot 

The Mill on the Floss
Silas Marner

T.S. Eliot

Murder in the Cathedral

Mary Hanford Ford

The Legends of Parsifal

John Fowles

The Collector
The French Lieutenant's Woman

Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank
(Changed from Updike's Rabbit, Run which was a DNF)

Bonnie Friedman

Writing Past Dark

Elizabeth Gaskell

Cranford
North and South

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
The Sylph

John Gardner

The Art of Fiction
On Becoming a Novelist
On Writers and Writing

Natalie Goldberg

Thunder and Lightning
Writing Down the Bones

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Marble Faun

Victor Hugo
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Les Miserables

Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Henry James

The Portrait of a Lady
The Golden Bowl
The Turn of the Screw
Roderick Hudson

Ralph Keyes
The Courage to Write

Madame de Lafayette
The Princess of Cleves Read in February 2019

Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird Read in July 2018

Sheridan Le Fanu

Uncle Silas

Gaston Leroux

The Phantom of the Opera

Ursula K. Le Guin

Steering the Craft

Betsy Lerner

The Forest for the Trees

Thomas Mann

Buddenbrooks

W. Somerset Maugham

The Painted Veil

Joyce Carol Oates

The Faith of a Writer

Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar

Steven Pressfield

The War of Art

Ann Radcliffe

The Mysteries of Udolpho 

Sir Walter Scott

Rob Roy

Mary Shelley

Frankenstein Read in February 2019

Twyla Tharp

The Creative Habit

Brenda Ueland

If You Want to Write

Lew Wallace

Ben-Hur

Evelyn Waugh

Brideshead Revisited

Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence
Ethan Frome
The House of Mirth
The Writing of Fiction

Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Lady Windermere's Fan
A Woman of No Importance
An Ideal Husband

Virginia Woolf

Orlando
The Virginia Woolf reader

Jane Yolen

Take Joy

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A Reading Life (52) - April #reading plans, #readathons and short #reviews

April already and it's readathon time! My Spring into Horror Readathon (at Seasons of Reading) is in full swing, going on the whole month of April, and today it's time for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon. Last time I participated in October, I didn't have any plans on Saturday so I was able to do the whole 24 hours (well, I stayed home anyway...I didn't manage to read for 24 hours). This time is a different story because I'm going to see Pet Sematary. So excited! I still should be able to get some good reading time in though.

Before I get to my readathon reading plans, let me share what I read in March. I managed to read three full books! Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (audio), and The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. I'm still working on Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake.

My brief thoughts on my March reads...

Joy in the Morning

My mom told me many years ago I needed to read this. Can't believe I waited so long. Wonderful book. Annie was such a great character. A lot of her traits reminded me of myself. The way her mind worked; her sense of optimism, and she was a book lover and writer. This book was just a comfort to read, and though it wasn't a "can't put down" thriller type of book, I still found myself wanting to keep reading each time I picked it up.

Challenges read for:

Book Challenge by Erin 10.0

Northanger Abbey

Not my favorite Austen, but definitely worth a read for any Austen fan. Austen had a knack for writing duplicitous characters. Isabella Thorpe, I'm looking at you. I loved all the references to the Gothic novels of the time.

Challenges read for:

Book Challenge by Erin 10.0

The Classics Club

The Miniaturist

If you're a reader who often finds yourself unable to read the book before the movie (or series) is released, take my advice. Never ever let yourself be satisfied with just watching the movie (or series), as excellent as it may be. There's a chance you will miss out if you do. I'm sure many already know this, but it bears repeating. The BBC limited series based on this book was indeed excellent. Yet the book was so much more. The writing brought vividly to mind the scenes, and the characters had so much depth. Based on the real Petronella Oortman (Brandt), the story was fictional, but the large cabinet/doll's house portrayed in the story was one the real Petronella possessed, and one she lavished much money and attention upon. The dollhouse has been on display in the Rijksmuseum Museum in Amsterdam since 1875 (image below). This will always be a memorable historical fiction read for me.

Challenges Read for:

Book Challenge by Erin 10.0

April Reading/Readathon Plans

The #Bookjar and Random Reading Projects are again on hold this month because I'm in the final stretch of  Book Challenge by Erin 10.0 which ends on April 30. I have five books to read to complete the challenge. With the readathons going on, I think I can do it. I hope!

Horror/scary reads for Spring into Horror

Necroscope by Brian Lumley

Florence and Giles by John Harding

The King of Bones and Ashes by J.D. Horn (currently reading)

Good Omens by Gaiman/Pratchett (audio - currently listening)

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Non-scary

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier (April selection for True Book Talk)

The Twelve Caesars (continue on with)

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (continue on with) 

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A Reading Life (51) - March #reading plans and February's short #reviews

Wow! It's March. It's Spring Break this week so we have some fun planned. Looking forward to it because we're going to the Frist Art Museum. Might be the last time we visit before we move back to Michigan next year. We're also going to see Captain Marvel tomorrow. I've been hearing great things about it. Reece and I are excited!

In February, I read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Princess of Cleves by Madame de La Fayatte (True Book Talk February Selection). I'm still working on Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars. It's a bit dry so I decided to take a bit longer to read it, and to read it in doses.

My thoughts on February's reads...

Frankenstein

I can't believe I waited so long to read this book. I've read Dracula three times. I recently watched the film, Mary Shelley. I immediately picked this up to read. While somewhat more wordy than Dracula, in my opinion (I enjoy Dracula's epistolary format), I liked its insight and observations on mankind. How we so often have difficulty looking beyond the physical appearance to what the person is like inside. How we judge and underestimate on appearances alone. I would even go so far to say that Shelley's "monster" was symbolic of women and how they were treated in her time. Judged by gender/outward appearance; believed not capable of anything beyond typical womanly tasks. Certainly not capable of writing a novel such as Frankenstein!

I will definitely reread at some point. I bet there is a great audio version available.

Challenges read for:
Book Challenge by Erin 10.0
Classics Club
13 Ways of Looking at the Lifetime Reading Plan
2019 Book to Movie

The Princess of Cleves

A quote from the Madame de La Fayette author page on Goodreads: "... the work is often taken to be the first true French novel and a prototype of the early psychological novel." This was definitely an interesting depiction of the intrigues of the French court, and when I say intrigues, I mean the intrigues of love. Initially, a bit overwhelmed with the multitude of characters described in the novel, I was finally able to keep everyone straight, although with effort. Regarding it being an early psychological novel, I would have to agree. The author was very skillful in depicting the inner workings of the characters' minds, especially those of the Princess of Cleves and the Duc de Nemours.


Challenges read for:
Classics Club

March Reading Plans

I'm not doing the #Bookjar and Random Reading Projects this month because I'm working on Book Challenge by Erin 10.0 which ends on April 30. I need to read three books this month and three next month, plus finish The Twelve Caesars, to complete the challenge (I'm also listening to the Northanger Abbey audio book for this challenge...very close to finishing). Below are the books and Book Challenge prompts I'm reading for this March.

Read a book that is a friend or family member’s favourite...or the favourite book by another participant in this challenge - Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith (one of my mom’s favorites)

Read a book that was made into a movie - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Read a book that is set in Europe - The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Also, currently reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, March selection for True Book Talk.

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A Reading Life (50) - #Reading plans, plus a couple of short #reviews

I can't believe my last "A Reading Life" post was way back in September of 2017. Wow! I have truly been slacking. Hoping to do better, although these posts will probably be monthly, or bi-weekly occasionally. I think I can commit to that.

Last month, I shared my #BookJar and Random Reading projects, along with the other few challenges I'm participating in this year. One thing was clear to me from the outset...you're going to need a bigger jar. lol  Alas, my pretty little jar with the green lid (pictured in challenge image above) was not large enough for all the slips of paper. I couldn't get them to mix up so I kept drawing the same books again and again. Pictured also above is the new jar with plenty of room to shake, shake, shake.

Coincidentally, the book I drew from the book jar (after transferring paper slips to the new jar) was The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, which is also one of the books in my Read Your (Book) Shelf challenge stack, and so it's my read for February for that challenge. The Twelve Caesars is also on my list for Book Challenge by Erin 10.0 and my Non-Fiction Adventure challenge list. Also, for Book Challenge by Erin, I'm reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and listening to Austen's Northanger Abbey on audio. This month's True Book Talk (my Goodreads book group) selection is The Princess of Cleves by Madame De Lafayette (translated by Nancy Mitford). Since February is a short month, I'm not going to pick a Random Reading title this month. I'm already going to struggle to finish what I have slated.

I finished my Read your (Book) Shelf book for January, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. My True Book Talk January selection carried over into this month. I just finished it today, Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography by Marion Meade. I also finished today, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (audio book and reread). 

I've become so nervous about writing reviews. I'm not sure why. I guess because anxiety has really entered my life more of late and it extends to all areas. So, most of my reviews are going to be short and sweet. Below, I share my (short) thoughts on the three books mentioned above. 

Orphan Train

Everyone I've talked to loved this book. My mom read it first and she loved it. So did I. I think books like this should be required reading for over privileged kids who think they have it bad. (Hopefully) they will never know a life like the orphans, like Vivian, had in this book. It's difficult to imagine how few rights children had even as recently as the 1920s. This book examines, in a fictional account, the very real phenomenon of the orphan trains which operated from 1854 to 1929, transporting orphans to the Midwest states for adoption, but which usually amounted to indentured servitude. What Vivian experienced was so heartbreaking, never truly finding a family to love her, and where she felt she belonged, even when she did find a family who at least cared for her and took her in as their own. She finally finds true happiness, only to face tragedy again. I really liked how the author tied in the story of a modern day foster child who meets Vivian as an elderly lady and they form a strong bond of friendship through their shared orphan experience. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a poignant historical read, and who loves stories about the triumph of the human spirit. The tears it brought to my eyes several times showed me that this book really touched my soul.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

This was hands down one of the best biographies I have ever read. I have long admired Eleanor, the

woman who was a queen twice, first in France, and the second being the queen to the formidable Henry II of England. Together they sired eight children, two of them becoming future kings of England in their own right. Boy, what she went through and achieved for her children is truly astounding. She was a formidable woman who knew to pick her battles. She most certainly made some mistakes along the way, but for the time period, when women were mostly kept in the background, Eleanor was always in the forefront. She lived to be 82 years old, quite a feat for the time as well. Before I read this book, my only reference for Eleanor was the famous film, "The Lion in Winter." Even then, I fell in love with the woman she was, and have always wanted to learn more about her. This book gave me that and much more. Not only a biography, but a detailed historical account of her life, and those of her husband, Henry II, and her sons. It definitely made me want to read more about the various figures during her lifetime.

A Discovery of Witches
This was a reread (I listened on audio). I wanted to read it again before the series aired (on Sundance or Shudder). I didn't quite get there, but I watched the first eight episodes and will now finish watching the last two. I have to admit, I liked this better when I read the print book the first time. I think it was the voice of the audio book reader. Listening to her read it made it sound more corny to me. Has that ever happened to you? It just seemed more romance-y to me this time. Maybe I'm just more jaded than I was back in 2011. All this being said, I still like the story. I love the history tied up in it, and the idea of witches, vampires and demons existing along side humans. So, I'm looking forward to reading the second book, though I won't be listening on audio. Not sure when I'll pick up, Shadow of Night, but it will definitely be before the next season of the television series (which is pretty good, by the way, although a bit different from the book).

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#FirstBook and #OneWord for 2019...and 2018 End of Year #Book Survey

Sending out a big thanks to Sheila at Book Journey for hosting First Book of the Year and sharing My One Word once again this year. This has become a tradition for many of us and I truly appreciate it.

My first book of the year is our non-fiction selection for my True Book Talk book group on Goodreads. January is one of our three yearly non-fiction months and our January selection each year must be a biography or history title. I chose six historical biographies from the non-fiction shelf of my home library and we voted (via poll) for which title we wanted to read. This has been on my shelf for years and Eleanor is one of my historical heroines. So excited to finally read it!

Arya looks quite perturbed with my first book of the year. lol

***********

This year, I want to keep moving forward. I feel like in 2018 I was kind of at a standstill. Not that my life wasn't way busy and hectic. It was. Just basically at a standstill with my goals....reading more, writing, blogging, getting healthy. This year I chose "Onward" as my one word. Onward with all my goals, but particularly with writing my novel. Onward, knocking aside the fear and the doubt. I found this poem online (here) and it is quite fitting...

Onward

Words drip out of the pen
A realization begins to take shape
Onward
With the pace of a shark that has picked up the scent of blood in the water
With the face of a broken clock attempting to measure the time passing
Onward
Through the letters, pain and pleasure
Burdens lifted
Inner peace is gifted
Ink addicted
Especially whilst conflicted
Onward
A journey towards the center
Or a journey towards what lies outside
A trek on top of clouds ‘till Heaven
Or a tunnel built with zero degree tilt, straight down towards where Hell must lie
Onward
The core scorches with the heat of an impassioned love
Space is empty, vast, and freezing cold
But until I find the answers to my questions
The ink will flow and the pen I’ll hold

Every year, I purchase a necklace or pendant with my one word, but this year I chose to go with a bracelet. This is the one. Of course, it will have Onward engraved on it. I hope it arrives soon!

9th Annual End Of Year Book Survey

Our host each year is Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner.

I'm going to pick and choose which questions to answer on this one, as I feel some do not apply.

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read:  31

Very shabby turn out on my goal of 75...2018 was not a great year for my reading.

Number of Re-Reads: 3

Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

Howard's End, E.M. Forster

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Genre You Read The Most From: Horror

In previous years, this would have been historical fiction.

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?
I'll go with my top five favorites (excluding re-reads):

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

The Terror, Dan Simmons

The Anomaly, Michael Rutger

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn

Bird Box, Josh Malerman

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

I won't say I was terribly excited about it. I saw it and when I read the description, I thought it sounded in similar vein to The Anomaly. It wasn't. 

Ararat, Christopher Golden

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? 

I discovered The Confessions of Dorian Gray series by Tim Leng quite by accident when searching for Christmas audio books on Hoopla. I had never heard of the series. The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Spirits of Christmas was surprisingly good. Very entertaining...acted out like a television show or movie. I will have to listen to the entire series eventually.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Anomaly and Bird Box
5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

I did not start or end a series, nor did I read a series ender. Amend that. Just discovered that The Anomaly is the first book in a planned series. The second book is out July of this year. Woot!

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Michael Rutger (author of question 5 above), which is a pseudonym for Michael Marshall.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

While I might possibly read more poetry than most (???), it's still not a genre I typically read. Best book of poetry I read was How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

The Anomaly, hands down. I read it in less than a day!

9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Why A Christmas Carol, of course! I read it every year.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

11. Most memorable character of 2018?
I have to name two...Ruby Lennox from Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Captain Francis Crozier from Dan Simmons' The Terror.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

To Kill a Mockingbird
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Again, To Kill a Mockingbird. I can't believe I waited so long to read it!

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? 

See above

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” 

--from To Kill a Mockingbird

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?
Tales of Christmas anthology, 46 pages

The Terror, 769 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
I would have to say the subject matter of The Treatment by Mo Hayder. Great book, but very disturbing what goes on in that book.

(Skipped 18 and 19)

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
The Narrows, Ronald Malfi

(Skipped 21 and 22)

23. Best 2018 debut you read?
Although it's technically not a debut since the author is a pseudonym of a previously published author, it is a debut for this author, and so The Anomaly...again. lol

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Ombria in Shadow, Patricia McKillip

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
I'm Not Sorry: Poems by Cats, Rosa Silva

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?
How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

(Skipped 27 - 30)

I've decided to just freestyle the remainder of this survey with some reading goals and one (or two) blogging goals.

• Of course, my main goal is to read more books. I want to go with my original plan from earlier in 2018. I was going to track my daily reading progress to hold myself more accountable to read more every day. I have a tab in the blog menu. I'm hoping to keep up with it this year. 
• I want to read more Anne Rice, and at least one or two Stephen King books this year. I also want to read the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords.
• I'm working on deciding which reading challenges I'll participate in this year (post coming soon). I failed miserably in 2018 on all but two reading challenges...my Book to Movie challenge and my 13 Ways yearly challenge. I'm going to try to limit myself to five or less full year challenges, not including the ones I host.
• The only goals I have for blogging are 1) to perhaps write more reviews, or maybe not reviews (unless it's a review book), but rather write ups of the books I enjoyed. Perhaps mini-reviews...
• and 2) to start writing my A Reading Life posts again, but changing from weekly to monthly. I think that will be more manageable for me.

So, wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2019. If you happen to read this post, please feel free to share your first book of the year, your one word, and/or your reading goals and plans.

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A Reading Life (49) - Fall Reading! #RIPXII #FrightFall #GothicSept #WitchSeasonCM

Here we are again...coming up on my favorite time of year (well, one of them anyway)! Fall, which leads into winter with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yay! Right now though, it's time to focus on the fun, spooky fall reading events starting with...

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XII

Hosting are Heather at My Capricious Life and Andi at Estella's Revenge. Head over to either blog to sign-up. From the sign-up post:

The purpose is to enjoy books that could be classified as...

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.

There are two simple goals for R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XII:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

There are multiple levels. Read more at the sign-up post.

My levels...

Peril the First:
Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson or Tananarive Due…or anyone in between.

Between reading for this, my other fall reading events, and my FrightFall readathon, which is the entire month of October, I'm hoping to get a lot of horror reading done. I may not get to all of them, but I'm sure going to try. This is the list I will be working on:

Exorcist Falls (including the novella, Exorcist Road) - Jonathan Janz
We Are Always Watching - Hunter Shea
Becoming - Glenn Rolfe
The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned - Anne Rice (read-along at Gather Together and Read)
The Witch of Ravensworth - George Brewer (novella...for Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre)
Hunter of the Dead -  Stephen Kozeniewski
Savages - Greg F. Gifune
The Awakening - Brett McBean
Vyrmin -  Gene Lazuta
Renovation - Sara Brooke
Dream Woods - Patrick Lacey (novella)

Peril of the Short Story:
We are fans of short stories and our desire for them is perhaps no greater than in autumn. We see Jackson in our future for sure! You can read short stories any time during the challenge. We sometimes like to read short stories over the weekend and post about them around that time. Feel free to do this however you want, but if you review short stories on your site, please link to those reviews on our RIPXII Book Review pages. 

Edgar Allan Poe short stories (for Gothic September):
Berenice: A Tale
William Wilson: A Tale
The Imp of the Perverse
A Descent into the Maelstrom

Short stories for Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre:
Ancient Sorceries - Algernon Blackwood
 The Witch - Shirley Jackson

Peril on the Screen:
This is for those of us who like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on our book review pages as well.

There are a ton of new scary movies I'm looking forward to this fall, not to mention scary shows...one of which I'm watching right now as I type this up..American Horror Story: Cult. 

The two movies I'm most looking forward to are IT and Mother! I'm going to see the former this weekend and the latter next weekend. Can't wait!

 

Join me for my fun, and scary, fall reading events!

 

Info and sign up here 

 

Info here

 

Coming in October to Castle Macabre

 

Info and sign up here

 

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A Reading Life (48) - Almost six months later...

Yes, it's a pattern with me. I never quite do what I say/what I set out to do. I have good intentions, but then real life gets in the way...and my poor blog, which I love so, is so neglected.

I've been doing a lot of reading, as always, but just not posting my thoughts as much. I just get bogged down and then I don't want to talk about what I read. Sometimes I think it's because I think my thoughts should go a certain way, or the review should be just so, according to some standard. I'm not reviewing as many books for authors. I've pretty much decided to only accept books from authors I know/have reviewed for before (and that's mostly horror authors at the moment so will be over at my sister blog, Castle Macabre). So, my thoughts on books from my home library, mostly older books, should just be my thoughts. Right? I guess I just need to get that through my head.

I've also been listening to more audio books. Here's what I've listened to since January:

American Gods, Neil Gaiman
Jaws, Peter Benchley
Little Girls, Ronald Malfi (reread)
The Plantagenets, Dan Jones
Black River, Dean Koontz
The Bear, Claire Cameron
The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro (currently listening)

I SO enjoy audio books, although I think my boys get irritated. I do find them getting into the stories sometimes though. I've also been listening to some writing podcasts, as I'm trying to focus more on my writing (now that I have a job that takes up more of my time...go figure). This below needs to be in my face constantly...

via GIPHY

I wanted to share with you some changes to my two online book clubs (on Goodreads), TuesBookTalk and Lit Collective.

TuesBookTalk has always been a genre based book club in which we read a different genre each month (decided by voting). We also have three non-fiction months in January, May and September. Recently, I decided to set genres for specific months to cut down on the amount of voting we do, and to make it easier for members. Below is the graphic outlining what genres we read in which months. Come join us any time. We now do our chats on Slack (we have a "team" on there for TuesBookTalk) and it's so nice not to have to deal with a character limit. Of course, thoughts can also be exchanged in the Goodreads group at any time.

Our June read, which is Science Fiction, is Dune by Frank Herbert.

Lit Collective is what we call an online reading retreat which takes place in the Spring and end of Summer/Fall. We will nominate and vote on a theme for the Spring retreat and then choose a list of 2-3 books to read and discuss in March, April and May. For our end of Summer/Fall retreat, we will focus on selected works of a particular author which will also be chosen by vote. We will read 2-3 works by said author and discuss in August, September and October. We generally have our chats after we've read the whole book. So, at the end of its designated month. We're also going to have our chats on Slack (Slack is free to join, by the way...forgot to mention that). As mentioned above, thoughts can also be exchanged in the Goodreads group at any time.

We are currently finishing up The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (on which I'm seriously behind, although it is a reread for me) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Right now, it's looking like Sarah Waters is going to be our featured author for August, September, and October (I'm pretty excited if it does turn out to be her. I loved The Little Stranger).

via GIPHY

Finally, I'd like to share with you two events coming up on June 1st.

The SciFi Summer Readathon, hosted at my readathon blog, Seasons of Reading, starts Thursday and runs until Wednesday June 7th. Details and sign up HERE.

The Summer of IT!!! In anticipation of the new movie coming out in September, I'm hosting a three month read-along of Stephen King's massive tome, IT! This will be hosted via my reading community site, Gather Together and Read (for schedule/sign-up/discussion) and I'll also have an event for discussions via the Gather Together and Read Facebook group. Check at Gather Together and Read later today to sign up and get the reading schedule.

Well, it's summer so dipping my toe back in the pool of this blogging thing. No promises, but I'm going to try. We shall see...

What's going on in your reading life?

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A Reading Life (47) - #WintersRespite #Readathon & Starting over on The Classics Club #ourclassicsclub

I meant to get the bulk of this done during Mini-Bloggiesta, and I did manage to partially compose my 2017 reading challenge post (went live earlier this morning), and I cleaned up my sidebar (which wasn't even on my original goal list 😄), but didn't get a chance to finish transferring reading challenges (along with starting over my Classics Club) to this blog.

This week, I'm hosting my winter readathon at Seasons of Reading, A Winter's Respite. I'm thrilled because it's now a two week long event! It started yesterday, and it runs through Sunday, January 29.

Here's what I'm reading:

• The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazier (This is one I'm reading for TuesBookTalk and I have to finish it by Jan. 31).  Decided to not read this.
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• The Chemist, Stephenie Meyer
• Property, Valerie Martin
• The Boy Who Wanted Wings, James Conroyd Martin

Actually, the above are all books I need to read this month so I'm hoping this two week readathon, and the 24 in 48 Readathon this weekend, will help me accomplish it. 

Why not join us? You can sign up and jump in through January 27.

My start date for The Classics Club was March 11, 2012...so my time is up this March. Problem is, I have not hardly put a dent in my list. I've had a lot going on in my life. A separation in late 2012 and finally a divorce in 2014. A job that I hated which sapped my energy and had me getting sick all the time. Plus, being a single mom (or the custodial parent, which means I have the kids the majority of the time). That is why I'm allowing myself a do-over. I'm sure the lovely folks at The Classics Club will understand. My new list, with start and end dates, will be in the menu tab above titled, The Classics Club. Head over there to check it out.

Watching

I saw two movies over the weekend. The Bye Bye Man, a horror film, was pretty scary.
I was hiding my eyes throughout. Passengers. Wow! I really liked it. Not sure why it didn't seem to get great reviews. Definitely worth seeing. 

Some people are grumbling about the season finale of Sherlock. I liked it. I thought the introduction of Eurus was quite interesting, in my opinion. Plus, the very end of the episode was very touching.

Victoria also aired on Masterpiece on PBS Sunday night. I really enjoyed it too. I thought Jenna Coleman did quite a good job in the role.

My youngest son, Reece's 14th birthday was January 10. We had his party this past Sunday at CiCi's Pizza. He had a great time! Why must they grow up so fast?

What's going on in your (Reading) Life?

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